Archive for June, 2009

We just spent part of the week in Makueni, Kenya. Makueni is the location for the medical camp that will take place in August. We will be joined by ~25 medical professionals from SECC to serve the community of Makueni. The Mi2ers accompanied 4 LIA staff/volunteers to scope out the facilities within the AIC Dispensary (Africa Inland Church), we would be using in August. We made tons of lists and “to-do” agendas for when we return to set everything up in August. The facility we’ll be using is gorgeous– it has two large wings with spacious rooms that could be used for operations (a theatre as the Kenyan’s call them), there are plenty of other rooms for consultations, specialists, pharmacists and nurses. The construction of the building was stopped almost prior to it’s completion, I think due to lack of funds. The building has never been used– but it’s a beauty. I can just imagine the empty corridors bustling with people someday! On the same campus as the facility we’ll be using is a running outpatient clinic, a small pharmacy, a maternity ward and a mortuary. We were getting a tour of the AIC Dispensary and they wanted to show us the “motor” room. We followed our guide to a small building, about 200m to the left of the guest house we were staying in.

We stepped into the little building and saw this large green rectangular box, about 4 feet high and about 7 feet long. It kind of looked like a generator, and we had been told about their generators before- so we just figured this is the building where it was stored. Then, the guide proceeded to open up a door; I was expecting to see a room full of mechanical instruments and more generators. The soft sunlight poured in through a window opposite to us, perfectly outlining the silhouette of a 103 year old man lying on a metal table. We were all absolutely shocked. I turned around for a minute, just to get over the shock of seeing a dead man (no clothing) just lying by himself in this large room. After getting over our initial shock, we entered the room, and saw the man up close. He was so very thin, but he looked like he would have been a joy to talk to! They were embalming him with fluids, and the family came on Saturday to pick up the body. Apparently funerals and the transport of the body are huge parts of Kenyan traditions– a large group of family and friends crowded outside of the mortuary to see off his body. It was an interesting moment, because while the body moving was taking place, there was also a large meeting of people under a tree nearby.

The meeting was an area meeting, where the community gathers to discuss various issues. What was slightly shocking yet amazing was that they opened with prayer and song. Imagine- 100+ people gathered under an acacia tree, women wearing bandanas, men tying up their bicycles and grabbing a seat under the shade. Benches and chairs were dragged out of the medical building to seat people, but people were still strewn across the ground with dry grass. There were a few main speakers, though it looked like anyone who wanted to speak could talk. Anyways, they opened with prayer, and then the most beautiful songs rose from their lips. It was such an awesome moment. All of these people, standing in the shade of God’s beautiful tree just lifting their voices to their creator and Lord. The voices mixed and mingled and created such a wonderful sound that I’m sure pleased our Heavenly Father.

Our God is good. Anyways, the rest of the time in Makueni was spent getting supply lists together, Pamella from LIA talked with pastors, health officers, etc. to make sure everything was in place for August. We also had the chance to witness a chicken slaughter. Courtney really wanted to have the experience of killing a chicken, so Pamella brought one back from a market after she had run some errands that day. After Pam got back to the guest house, we were just chatting away, and she pointed down underneath the counter top and there was Ms. Hen. Her legs were tied, so she couldn’t move, but we had no idea she was just sitting patiently under our counter. We got an 8min video of the process, so ask and we’ll show it to you when we get back. Courtney did a great job- thought the knife wasn’t too sharp, and the chicken wiggled around a bit (you go for the jugular). When we asked Jacob (an LIA driver), “So what’s the process of killing the chicken”. He replied “Chicken will die.” No lies there, folks.I helped with the plucking process. We ended up with a delicious chicken dinner that night, though Lauren didn’t partake.

We’re back in Nairobi now; we leave for Thika on Tuesday. I’m finally taking a day off by my self for some reflection and alone time with the Lord. Later today, I’m meeting with a couple from America who are now in Kenya with InnerChange, the same organization that Daniel is with. They work with Somalians, and I’m interested to see what they’re up to and where God is calling them.

And I’m also considering transferring colleges– from Denison University to the University of Kentucky. There are many reasons behind considering a transfer, but the most important one is being surrounded by more Christian people. It’s been very difficult in my past 3 years at Denison to have good conversations about faith. Lately, God has been convicting me about not being as involved in church and fellowship with other Christians. Maybe Denison is my mission field for next year, I’m praying that God shows me a clear answer as to where I should be attending next year. Pray for our guys in Poland, their camps start up this week and their schedules are going to get a LOT busier. Be sure to check out our Kenya team blog as well! Also keep Daniel in your prayers . It sounds like InnerChange in the Mission District may need to come up with a new vision on whom they are reaching out to, and the methods in which they are reaching. He’s had some awesome experience so far, and God is just growing in him so much!

God has also been doing some major work on my heart. He’s been showing me more and more how He is the most important thing to truly live for. Often times, I think we get accustomed to living in and for this world. Get a good job, make good money to support a family; it’s all about doing what we can to advance in this world. And I think that Christians have gotten the wrong picture of what it means to be a Christian. I see (and I am guilty of this as well) Christians living for the world, but they also fit God into the picture. In reality, God is THE picture. He created the picture, He has a vision for the picture!

I listened to a sermon on Grace by Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church today, and he was explaining the types of Grace that we are given by God. God decided to love us (we did not first choose to love him). He chose us from every single broken and sinful person on this earth. He offered us the opportunity to love and follow him. When we accept Christ as our Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit instills in us a new set of passions and desires– and your deepest passions are transformed into line with God’s desires! God provides for us- he gives us what we need, he gives us enough money, he gives us enough food, he gives us enough! His grace is more than enough! God is eternal, and he promises that his grace is also eternal (Philip 1:6-7)

God is showing me this message of the transforming power of His grace. I want to experience this grace; I want to give my EVERYTHING to my creator, my friend, my savior, my father! My passions are becoming more and more of what He desires for this world. I’m so eager to learn more and more about the Lord. I’m willing to give up everything that I am and everything that I have to live for him. And you know what, everything that I am and everything that I have are gifts from the Lord- there’s nothing to lose!

Greetings! I hope all is well in whichever country/state you’re reading this! As mentioned in the previous post, we traveled to the coast this past week to visit Mombasa. Whenever Mombasa is said, I always think of they hyenas saying “Moufasa” from the Lion King. The Kenyans loved the Lion King, and they really do use “hakuna” in sentences! Anyways, the stereotype of Mombasa is a super laid back, touristy sort of town. It was definitely touristy- everywhere we went, people immediately associated white skin with lots of money. Our LIA volunteer and friend, Beth, had to do an awful lot of negotiating as we tried to get a reasonable price for a Matatu (14-passenger vans that drive INSANELY). And the laid back/nice attitude that is supposed to permeate the culture of Mombasa? I felt that everyone moved at a quicker pace than what we’ve been exposed to thus far. They walked faster, the matatu drivers seemed more rushed, and people even RAN on and off of the ferry that takes you from Mombasa inland to Mombasa island. I actually got to experience my first agitated Kenyans- we hopped in a Matatu to take us somewhere, and we had asked them to stop and wait while we re-loaded a cell phone, but the people on the van started to get pretty irritated. We ended up getting off of the bus to wait for Beth (who was the one who needed a re-charge), but man, they were getting irritated!

We stayed at a little a guest house run by Africa Inland Mission, and we were RIGHT on the Indian Ocean. Our guest house was in a gated area, so we had to remember to take the keys out every time we went to the beach. Our first night there, I think we were all a little thrown off at first when the owner of the compound, Martha, was warning us of all the dangers that surround Mombasa. For example, there are these beautiful blue jellyfish that you have to watch out for on the beach, you shouldn’t be out after dark, there are dogs in the compound that are out from 10-pm-5am (y don’t sound like friendly dogs), etc. And, the water was collected rainwater, so we had to be conscious of how much water we used. It was a nice guest house, three bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, spacious sitting room, and doorstep that basically backed up to this view:

This is a view of the Indian Ocean at about 7:30am! The waters are extremely clear, and there is an expanse of coral reef about a quarter mile from the shoreline. We spent two of our three days on the beach- we picked up some beautiful seashells, we saw some spiny sea urchins (I tried to give everyone a little lesson on my knowledge of sea urchin anatomy and their developmental processes, but alas, no one was interested except for me). We all went a little sunscreen crazy, so no one got too much sun. We spent one day visiting Fort Jesus- an old Portuguese fort that had been captured by the Arabs, (You can read more on our team blog, http://www.mi2kenya09.blogspot.com for more details!) After visiting Fort Jesus (which, by the way, was constructed so that it looks like a man from a birds-eye view), we went with a friend and LIA staff member relative, Frida, to her church (on a Thursday afternoon!) The church was called “The Maximum Miracle Center”, Mombsa is HOT, and I think the enclosed space of the church plus the heat kind of zapped all of our energy once we sat down. It was kind of neat attending a lunchtime service, and we got up and introduced ourselves when the service was over (to a “crowd” of about a dozen people).

Besides getting sun ansd seeing some sights, we also learned how to make an authentic Kenyan stew from Beth! The boys took some time to make shell-necklaces, Ben even brought along some dental floss for that purpose alone- necklace making. While the trip was fun, and we saw some great sights and got to experience some of our missed KY humidity, it was a challenging week for myself. My spirits weren’t as high as usual, I think if I had just one day to myself to rest and spend some time with the Lord- I would’ve been more pleasnt on the trip. I’m trying to learn how to take a little bit of alone time each day so that I don’t end up having one “Bad day” every few weeks, but it’s a learning process. It’s so awesome to be working alongside Lauren, Courtney, Ben and Daniel- but we don’t ever really get a break from each other. I guess that’s a part about communal living that I’m going to have to work on.

But I’m going to go get packed up for our trip to Makueni! We’ll be having the medical camp at the end of our 3 months with the SECC Medical team in Makueni, and we’re getting the place prepared for the team to come on in. Apparently Makeuni is VERY very dry, and we’ve had a little bit of trouble getting rid of colds and such with all of the drastic climate changes. So pray that everyone’s lungs clear up so that we can fully enjoy our experiences! And I haven’t gotten to run in over a week (obviously with all of the safety issues of Mombasa). I miss my running time! I hope that we’ll have some safe expanses of Kenya to romp around on this coming week! Also, we’re staying in tents again, so pray that everyone gets restful sleep as we’ll be clearing out rooms/cleaning/hauling stuff this week.

And I’m so excited because I get to have a Skype date tonight with Daniel (www.godismyjudge.wordpress.com)! I’m so excited! Thanks so much for reading, all of the blog readers- whether I know you are not, are in my prayers! I Hope you are all being extravagantly blessed by our Lord!

Wow, it’s been such an awesome week! This past week our team traveled to Kajiado, Kenya. Kajiado is in the rift valley province of Kenya, and there were some spectacular sights as we drove out to the middle of nowhere. We stayed with a missionary couple, Josiah and Sarah Kirisuah. Josiah and Sarah are of the Maasai tribe, and they live on a beautiful piece of land that overlooks a valley where Josiah’s native tribe of ~400 live. Josiah is a pastor at the local church that they started, in addition to the church, the Kirisuah’s also started a primary school for the local Maasai children.

Sarah and Josiah showed us such hospitality. For each meal, Sarah created wonderful dishes that filled our stomachs and our hearts. She also took the time to explain many recipes to us so we can replicate them when we return home 🙂 Josiah and Sarah have an extraordinarily beautiful piece of land, and it was so neat to hear Josiah talk about the land as God’s portion for him and his family. God has truly blessed this family with many talents (their daughter, Neema, is an extraordinary award-winning singer), great dreams (they hope to open a medical clinic, Neema hopes to open a school for arts), and outstanding relationships with their Maasai family and friends. If you Google “Maasai”, you’ll probably see a picture of a tall, lean warrior with a red and blue plaid cape over his shoulders. You’ll probably find stories of how the Maasai drink blood and how they are a ‘culturally preserved’ tribe. You may or may not find that the Maasai people are some of the kindest, healthiest (they live on meat and milk, yet have no heart problems?), most genuine people you can ever meet.

We helped out the village with building a dam so that they could one day have a large water source. The dry summer tends to be very difficult for the heardsman and farmers, and the dam offers hope that they can continue to make a living the way they have for hundreds of years. We helped by hauling huge stones (the area is FULL of rocks), we also had an assembly line where we passed cement up to the dam wall. It was great to mix in with all of the Maasai, and we had no idea what they were saying- because they speak Maasai, so the little bit of Kiswahili that we know was basically useless. But the smiles and funny interactions exchanged made us all instant friends. I’m not going to go on and on about how awesome the Maasai are, you’ll just have to come out to Kenya to experience it yourself 🙂
I got stung by a wasp on my first trip to the restroom, and I wanted to document the moment. This is such a beautiful picture, Nemma, the singer, decided to hold my hands- and this beautiful picture is the result!

This past week was filled with the extraordinary wonders of God’s creation. The landscape was beautifully filled with tall, thorny Acacia trees, towering red termite hills, sparse shrubs and blue skies that went on forever. At night, we got to watch the moon rise (I’ve NEVER seen a moon rise before), and I swear we could see each of the stars in the Milky Way. This past week was full of relaxation and beautiful sights, but we also did some hard work. Like I mentioned earlier, we helped to schlep materials for building a dam. The day before we left, we set up a small medical camp (which we advertised when helping out with the dam). We opened up the small church and about 150 people ended up coming! We held the camp from about 10am-4pm. My job was to do an ENT(ears, nose, throat) examination, and I also checked the eyelids for paleness that could suggest anemia. Here are some realizations:

-Children do not like ear scopes. In fact, they are terrified of them. The children like to slump to the floor, which makes it necessary for me to go down to the floor to get a peek into their ears and nose- all in all, it often looked like I was pinning a child on the floor, I promise I was only trying to help.
-The insides of peoples’ noses look different from one another. I mean, seriously, there are so many different inner-nose structure types. It was pretty interesting. But, when the interesting nose structures were inflamed or incredibly snotty- that’s when things got kind of gross.
-Apparently elderly Maasai women don’t have people asking them to open their mouths very often. Whenever I would demonstrate how they were to show me their lovely tonsils, they would laugh quite a bit. The women, lovingly called the “grandmothers’, also giggled when I proceeded to look up their noses.
-I know absolutely nothing about eyes, ears, noses and throats. I mean, I can tell if something looks bad, but I have absolutely no training to diagnose anything. But no worries, once the patients passed me and Ben for blood pressure, they went to fake Dr. Daniel and then proceeded to the pseudo-pharmacists Lauren and Courtney. No worries though, we did have Pamella, an LIA staff member and registered nurse on hand. So we were semi-legitimate.

The people needed basic medicines: de-wormers, pain relievers, antibiotics, anti-fungal medications- so our lack of knowledge about most things medical didn’t matter too much. The medical camp was a fun experience, though Daniel and Ben are feeling a little under the weather today, so keep them in your prayers.

Some fun experiences I had in Kajiado:
– We watched a goat castration (i.e. vasectomy) and we documented it with video and pictures
– We watched a goat become our dinner (I wrote a detailed how-to list for how to have goat for dinner)
– We drank copious amounts of Kenyan tea (tea, milk, water and sugar- mmmm)
– I got to take some AWESOME runs– my shoes are now a terra-cotta red color from the beautiful Kenyan dirt
– I fully intend on going back to Kajiado, and I told Sarah and Josiah that I would be back to visit them. Who knows? Maybe I can work in their dream clinic someday 🙂 P.S. It’ll take about 4 million Kenyan schillings ($50,000) for them to get the clinic up and running- if you happen to want to donate, let me know!
– I miss e-mailing Daniel. We didn’t have any internet access this past week, and I’ve missed talking to him. He arrived safely in California last week, and he’s been going through his orientation these past few days! It’s been so nice to finally read e-mails from him. Keep him in your prayers please!

Tomorrow we are headed back to Kibera slum to do a school outreach program with Nairobi Pentacostal Church. Pray that we’re able to have some good interactions with the children- as you may have read in the last post, the slums are a difficult place to be. We’re also not really sure what we’re doing, and we don’t know how much of a language barrier there will be, so I’m just praying that God leads us into some awesome fellowship with the people we meet. And I also want to thank God for the work he’s doing in the lives of people back home. I’ve been praying for many things this summer, especially for my family, and our Lord is faithful! Prayers are being answered!

On Monday June 1, Daniel, Lauren and I atteneded the Madaraka Day celebration. Madaraka day is the day Kenya attained self-rule in 1963. Let’s take a look at my fashion choices, can you tell what I’m missing?
I decided to wear a tank-top because it feels like the middle of summer to us, but the Kenyans think it’s cold because it’s winter here! I also donned a baseball cap to protect my face from the “winter” sun. I slipped on my Chacos (which I think I’ve worn every day since I’ve been here), and I also wore capris.. Anyways, now that you know what I’m wearing, notice that I forgot to put on sunscreen. More on that later.
Dr. Emily from LIA picked us up and dropped us off at the stadium. We got there around 10:30 am, and we waited till about 11:45 till anything started. It was pretty neat because we got to sit in the stadium seats, we got there before it was getting super crowded. There was a marching band that played as the Kenyan armed forces marched around the field. Then there were some other groups that walked a lap around the stadium, there was a brief air show, some Masai warriors did a dance performance, and there were circus-type acrobats who did some nifty tricks (doing a handstand on another persons ribcage, anyone?) Then the prime minister came out and talked, and then the President came and spoke for a while.
At one point though, when the Prime Minister was speaking (it was all in Swahili, so we didn’t know what he was saying)- some guy started shouting about 5 sections to our right. The Kenyan guards were all over him immediately, but it got our hearts pumping for a while- especially since we had no idea what was said by the Prime Minister or by the unruly man. We decided to take off around 12:45, the President had started speaking, and we were getting REALLY hot- that’s another thing I’ve noticed, Kenyan’s don’t sweat. We headed out to one of the exits, but it was closed. We decided to stay there because someone told us the doors would open once the President was finished. People kept pouring into the little area where we were, and we stood packed like sardines for close to 30 minutes. It was a little unnerving at points because we were a little scared that someone would get rowdy again, but no one did, the heat didn’t help with the closeness either. When they finally opened the doors, everyone was pushing and shoving toward the exit. If you would have fallen, you may have been trampled. It was like you were standing in this river of moving people, and you just had to follow the current- I’ve never been in that experience before! But we’re safe, nothing bad happened 🙂
Back to my lack of sunscreen, my malaria medicine makes me sensitive to the sun. I got a bit burnt on my shoulders and in my “elbow pits”. My feet, on the other hand, got pretty toasted. I look like I’m wearing white Chacos . It’s more like sun irritation from the malaria med. It doesn’t hurt at all, but boy was it red! Everything has pretty much faded into a tan now though! Lauren has an awesome leathery-feeling forehead due to her extreme sun exposure, and Daniel, the redhead in the group, really didn’t get burnt too badly! See all of that patchyness? Thanks doxycycline.

On Tuesday, I made eggs for breakfast. I’ve had some difficulty with eggs: The first time I made them I added milk, the next time I added water, then this time I didn’t add anything- and go figure, they turned out the best! We headed to LIA and watched a short video about HIV/AIDS, then we read some questions that I think were from students that were published in an HIV/AIDS awareness magazine. Then we met with a missionary man and his wife, Josiah and Sarah, who live in Kijado, which is where we’ll be from Monday-Friday of next week. They live with the Masai tribe people (legit tribe people, the husband is one of them). We’ll be sleeping in tents and living very primitively. We’re all really excited for a “real” African experience! Of course, I asked if we could run while we were there, and Josiah said “sure, you can chase the giraffes”!!! Chasing giraffes!! How awesome!
We had our first slum experience in Kibera. Kibera is the world’s 2nd largest slum, and Kenya’s largest. It covers 7 square kilometers, HUGE. We met 3 pastors from churches there, and they took us to a “school”. There was garbage everywhere, there was dirt everywhere, it was stinky, people were everywhere- you couldn’t really look up while you were walking for fear of tripping over something or stepping in a puddle of who knows what.. I don’t even know how to explain it. The kids all were saying “allo, ow are you?” (They have difficulty saying H’s, it’s adorable). There are a few main roads that run through the entire slum, and there are TONS of mud hut shack things that are tiny businesses. Some sell minutes for cell phones (you load them up, kind of like reloading a pre-paid card), some sell veggies, some sell cooked food. I wasn’t expecting to see so many “businesses” there. And people walk like 5+ miles to town to go into the city to work. Some women make porridge in their homes, and then they carry it around and give it to people throughout the day. It’s such a strange environment; you really do have to see it to believe it.
Anyways, we visited the school, and the classroom was a dark little mud hut room with little benches and “desks” (taller benches) made out of 2×4’s. We said hi to the kids, and they went around the room and told us their names, they were from ages 5-11, but most looked younger. There were about 40 kids in that one tiny room. Then, the kids were given biscuits (cookies) for a snack, and they gave us some Kenyan tea (they boil milk + tea + sugar, it was AMAZING!) The school has a feeding program for the kids- they feed them fortified porridge at 10am, and they give them lunch (usually rice and beans) later in the day, sometimes that’s theonly food the kids get 😦

It was definitely a humbling experience. I said a prayer for them all, you could feel the love of the Lord in that place. We were meeting with a woman, and we followed her son, Daniel, home from school to visit with his mom who is HIV positive. It was so strange following this 5 year old boy through the packed mud and garbage alley-ways of the slum. There are “streams” of water and who knows what else running in the walking path, so you kind of have to hop around to avoid them. We arrived at the house, went inside, and saw the sparse furnishings of a wooden couch, some buckets for water, a simple stove (coals in a pot with another pot containing porridge on top), and a bed behind a curtain. The woman’s name was Faith (she’s a Christian), and she has 3 children. She welcomed us into her home (everyone tells us welcome everywhere we go, it’s awesome), and we said a prayer with her. And she was explaining (in English) the stigma about HIV positive people. Faith told her neighbors that she was HIV+, and they basically don’t talk to her anymore. People don’t get tested, because of stigma associated with HIV. BUT, HIV medication is FREE here, but people are just so afraid of what others will think, that they’re never tested, so they never really know their status, and they never can take advantage of free medication. It’s a difficult scenario to wrap your mind around.

A picture of Kibera in the rain from Ben’s camera

When we were returning to our van to head home, it started to rain, and the mud streets turned so very slippery. But, there was a rainbow over the slum, and it was just a really neat moment. God is still present even in this place where poverty, disease and hunger run rampid. I haven’t quite digested the whole visit to the slum yet, but again, it was humbling. I cannot believe that people are living and thriving in that area. It looks like a place where people should just be dying, but people have small businesses, and some people are happy? Then I started thinking, if SOME Americans would live a little less comfortably than they do (smaller house, not as extravagant cars, etc.), and if we sent all of that extra money to build houses/set up people from the slums with money for necessities for life, we could like, eradicate that slum area. That’s almost 2 million people and it really wouldn’t be much sacrifice for us.
On Wednesday, June 3, we met a guy named Julian (who happens to be the brother of the LIA founder, Dr. Florence). He founded an organization called Youth Redemption Africa, they basically start up bible studies/Christian youth leadership training within schools. Julian put together a book called “Aroma”, and it’s basically a year-long bible study for small groups that takes you through “Milk to Meat” types of studies. The first section of the book focuses on understanding what being a Christian means, then later sections talk about evangelism, traditions (prayer, fasting, etc), and then it talks about community/church importance and what each is supposed to look like. That wasn’t a very good description, but it’s basically awesome. It was an all-inclusive bible study that I think tons of people could learn from! I’m planning on bringing a few back home!
After lunch, we visited New Life Home Trust. They take in abandoned children (not orphans, just abandoned). Anyone can bring a child there (aged 1 day to 3 months- that’s the age range they’ll accept, lots of babies!) They were telling us about the program and stuff, and they take pictures of the babies when they are found/dropped off. The pictures were so heartbreaking. Some of the babies were super skinny, someone found a set of twins that had been BURIED under mud by the parents that didn’t want them, and one baby was wrapped in a garbage bag and was found in a dumpster. It was really difficult to look at the pictures. Then, they had pictures of the babies after 2-4 weeks at New life Home, and they looked SO much healthier and happier 🙂 Anyways, they’re running an awesome Christian facility. Courtney, Lauren and I played with some kids for a few. They’re just so cute. This is a quality place for the kids to be raised until they are adopted. We were given a little tour, then we were just allowed to help out with the kids. We played with them, and then we helped them wash their hands before dinnertime, where we got to help feed them. If it’s God’s will, I may be coming back to New Life Home Trust in the future to adopt 🙂 I grabbed plenty of brochures!

We had another authentic Kenyan dinner prepared for us by an LIA volunteer. She made an awesome beef stew, and rice and chapattis (wheat-tortilla like things that everyone loves). Sorry that post was so very long, but I’m just so excited to share what we’ve been doing with you all! God has definitely been opening my eyes to see how he gives people such life even in dire situations. He has also placed a few burdens on my heart, but I haven’t quite put a name to them yet. Keep everyone in your prayers, from my team mates, to our team mates in Poland, to Daniel as he prepares for his summer in California, and to my family and friends.
In Christ,
Holly